Review launched into police 'race discrimination'

Police apologised after stopping and searching Team GB athletes Bianca Williams and Ricardo dos Santos

The police watchdog is launching a review into whether officers across England and Wales racially discriminate against ethnic minorities.

Stop-and-search and the use of force will be among the issues examined by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

It follows criticism of the police in recent cases caught on camera.

The Metropolitan Police apologised this week to athlete Bianca Williams over a stop-and-search incident.

IOPC director-general Michael Lockwood said the review's focus on racial discrimination is intended "to establish the trends and patterns which might help drive real change in policing practice".

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Stop-and-search powers are nine times more likely to be used against black people than against white people in England and Wales, but Mr Lockwood said they needed to better understand how these disparities occurred and how they could be addressed.

He said the review will involve independently investigating more cases where racial discrimination may be a factor to "develop a body of evidence" and identify systemic issues.

The IOPC is currently investigating a series of cases in London, Birmingham and Greater Manchester in which it is alleged police used excessive force, and in some cases Tasers, against black men.

It is also looking into claims of racial profiling after Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner Ricardo dos Santos, who are both black, were handcuffed and searched by police during a vehicle stop.

After footage of the incident was posted online by former Olympic 100m champion Linford Christie, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick apologised for the "distress" it caused Ms Williams.

'Trust and confidence'

The IOPC would also investigate more cases where victims from BAME communities felt unfairly treated by police, Mr Lockwood said.

These could include whether the police are treating allegations of hate crime seriously, or if there are cases where police are failing to treat them as victims of crime.

"We know this is an issue of community concern. Our police forces can only police effectively with the trust and confidence of the community they serve," he said.

What do the figures show on police tactics and black people?

The police watchdog will look at the use of stop and search to see whether a pattern of racial discrimination exists.

What do the figures show on this and other police tactics?

Last year:

• There were 38 stop and searches for every 1,000 black people in England and Wales - compared with four for every 1,000 white people. So, black people were nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

• Black people were eight times more likely to be tasered than white people

• Black people were six times more likely to handcuffed than white people

We worked out these figures by looking at police data - broken down by ethnicity - and comparing it with the percentage of the population black people make up, according to the 2011 census.

In London, where black people make up a higher percentage of the city's population, the disparity is smaller but black people are still four times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

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